It is a recognised and legitimate form of public expression of concern, and must not be curtailed through harsh or punitive measures in order to stifle contrary views.
A modern and progressive nation must embrace peaceful expressions of dissent, and promote engagement and attempts at mutual resolution of the concerns.
The organisers decided that participants should gather at five different locations before marching to KLCC.
In many cases, the police detained the suspects overnight and then applied for remand orders for four days.
Detention shouldn't be first option
The police should not routinely resort to detentions, which are dehumanising and degrading, to punish and intimidate suspects.
However, they were only apprehended at 7pm, well after the rally had ended.
It is startling that the police waited several hours after the alleged offences before arresting the alleged perpetrators.
The minors were reportedly arrested and handcuffed together with the adult suspects and taken to the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters and later transferred to Dang Wangi district police Headquarters.
On May 2, 2015, the minors were produced together with the 23 adult suspects before a magistrate for the remand hearing.
The police sought a four-day remand, and were granted a remand of one day.
The minors were then detained at Dang Wangi district police headquarters until their release.
Shocking treatment of minors
The Child Act 2001 recognises that a child, by reason of physical, mental and emotional immaturity, is in need of special safeguards, care and assistance.
In this regard, it appears that the police ignored several applicable provisions of the Child Act 2001, including the following:
(1) Upon the arrest, the police “shall immediately inform a probation officer and the child’s parent or guardian of the arrest” (section 87(a));(2) Appropriate arrangements shall be made to prevent a child who is being detained in a police station, being conveyed to or from any Court, or waiting before or after any attendance in any Court, from associating with an adult who is charged with an offence (section 85(a)); and(3) The arrested child shall be brought before a Court For Children (which is constituted under section 11) within 24 hours of the arrest (section 84(1)).
The police appear to have been oblivious of these legal obligations, and have arguably exposed the minors to irreparable trauma, and long-term psychological scarring and damage.
There appears to have been no plausible reason for this urgency to commence investigations, and the threat of arrest was certainly unwarranted.
GST protest vs anti-cross protest
Such seemingly inconsistent treatment by the police lends to the perception that the police practise selective or unfair policing.
The police subsequently sought remand orders for four days for some of them, which were refused by the magistrate.
The actual recording of their statements then reportedly only took a mere 10 minutes.
The apparent dilatoriness on the part of the police could be construed as harassment, abuse of power and an unwarranted deprivation of a person’s liberty.
Moreover, it is unacceptable for the police to have sought remand orders for four days.
It is alleged that these persons had committed offences under section 4 of the Sedition Act 1948 and section 143 of the Penal Code.
These alleged offences do not require arrest and overnight detention, and certainly do not justify the excessive remand orders sought.
Punishment before conviction
The impression given is that detention was used to punish these persons, before any finding of guilt by a court of law.
The suspect was then allegedly dragged out of the car by plainclothes policemen.
The suspect has lodged a police report stating that he was verbally and physically assaulted before being pushed into one of the police cars and driven to the police station.
These allegations are serious, and cast a pall over the reputation of the police.
There must be a thorough investigation, as the alleged conduct is unbecoming of any enforcement agency.
If there is any basis to the allegations, the persons involved must be prosecuted for criminal assault.
The police should be mindful that their role is to promote and facilitate the exercise of the right to peaceful assembly — before, during and after the assembly.
The misuse of police powers renders the exercise of the fundamental right to peaceful assembly illusory.
STEVEN THIRU is the president of the Malaysian Bar.